Sanjay Chandrasekharan

From Pheromones to Memories: An Integrated Model of the Origin of External and Internal Representations

Based on two (reactive agent) simulations, I will argue that non-human organisms could generate novel epistemic structures (external representations that lower cognitive load) and novel internal traces (memories of the world that lower cognitive load) using the same learning mechanism.

I will then outline some of the implications of this model, particularly for Representation, the Extended Mind Thesis, and Simulation/Enaction Theory.

If time permits, I will also outline how the same model, with some modifications, explains human generation of structures in the world to lower cognitive load.